Campus Ministry

At St. Mary’s we strive for HAPPY students! As John Paul II says “Happiness means to be rooted in love.” In response to the two great Commandments of Jesus, “Love God with all your heart, mind and souls” and “Love your neighbor as yourself,” St. Mary’s Campus Ministry provides opportunities for students to experience God’s Love.

We aim to help students deepen and strengthen their relationship with Jesus, whether through prayerful experiences of Mass and the sacraments, or attending nationally acclaimed retreats and conferences. Students find happiness in loving their neighbor by serving in a myriad of unique service opportunities.

Liturgy and worship are central to practicing our Catholic faith. At the heart of our worship is the Eucharist. The St. Mary’s community celebrates monthly masses together. Here are some of the ways we celebrate the sacraments and worship together. Please click on each event for more information.

We celebrate Holy Mass together as a school community each month. In addition, we offer mass weekly during Lent and Advent. We encourage all students to attend Mass weekly at their home parish and invite all those interested in discovering the beauty of the Holy Mass to join us at St. Mary’s Parish. Click above and scroll down for our campus ministry calendar which includes our mass schedule.

St. Mary’s offers a unique worship experience to our students. Each year we have hundreds of teens participate in Cry Out; our monthly worship event. Through dynamic witness talks, live praise and worship music, the sacrament of Reconciliation, and Eucharistic Adoration students, faculty, and families of St. Mary’s come together to join in worshiping our Lord.

Reconciliation

Throughout the year students are given the opportunity to enter into the sacrament of Reconciliation. Priests from around the Archdiocese of Boston generously give of their time to visit St. Mary’s throughout the year to minister Christ’s grace and peace through this beautiful sacrament.

Not only are students encouraged to participate in the liturgical celebrations at St. Mary’s, but we also provide opportunities for them to lead others in that worship. The St. Mary’s Choir is designed to allow students to use their musical gifts to help others enter into authentic prayer during our liturgies.

Can you imagine close to one hundred teens arriving to school an hour early Tuesday in order to pray, play, and promote countless service events? At St. Mary’s, every Tuesday in the O'Brien Lecture Hall you can find these students inspired by the example of Rachel Joy Scott, who said, "I have a theory that if one person will go out of their way to show kindness and compassion, then it will start a chain reaction of the same."

St. Mary’s Campus Ministry Retreats provides many opportunities for service and reflection both within our school and in our greater Catholic community. Click on an event for more information including event details, forms and permission slips.

The annual March for Life takes place in Washington, D.C. St. Mary’s regularly brings the largest group in the Archdiocese of Boston, with 300 students attending in 2015. The March for Life brings students and faculty together to celebrate the sanctity of human life.

CAMPS stands for Christ As My Personal Savior and seeks to give young people an intimate relationship with Jesus. SnowCAMPS is designed for 7th and 8th graders, but high school students have the opportunity to attend as leaders.

St. Mary’s hosts the largest overnight Social Justice project in the Archdiocese of Boston with nearly 200 participants yearly. Each year students spend Good Friday and Holy Saturday serving the Boston and Lynn communities while experiencing prayer and sacrifice. The even begins on the beach in Nahant and climaxes at the Easter Vigil.

This retreat is for leaders and staff of the Hunger for Justice retreat. The leaders’ retreat lets the leaders get to know one another, as well as show them how to lead students in group activities and discussion.

Class Retreats

Class retreats give St. Mary’s an opportunity for new students to get to know the school community. It also allows upper classmen to take a leadership role in the school while deciding what legacy they wish to leave behind. Teens learn how to lead, love, and grow in virtue together.

Highlighted Events

Campus Ministry Team

Goals

Our goals for St. Mary School’s Campus Ministry are to help students begin their involvement in the spiritual community and provide them with spiritual tools and resources that will benefit and stay with them even after leaving St. Mary’s school.

This is accomplished through a number of efforts:

Getting students to regularly attend Mass and adoration

Having students give back to their community while exercising philanthropy and altruism through community service programs

Hosting retreats and events through which students can gain an intimate experience of Christ and socialize with their peers in a spiritual setting

Accomplishments

At St. Mary’s we are very proud of success of our campus ministry program. Some notable achievements include:

90% of St. Mary's students participate in Christian Service work

St. Mary's has brought the largest contingent of pilgrims on the Boston March for Life for the past four years (over one hundred last year)

St. Mary's has brought the largest group of young men to St. Andrew's dinners (18, 23, 20 and 12) and hikes in the past four years.

St. Mary's hosts the largest overnight Social Justice Project in the Archdiocese of Boston with nearly 200 participants yearly.

Let no one have contempt for your youth, but set an example for those who believe, in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity." -1 Timothy 4:12